Paul Folkemer

Gausman’s outing was a mixed bag, but could be a starting point

Although Kevin Gausman’s outing against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday was overshadowed by yet more Welington Castillo heroics, the Orioles right-hander took steps toward salvaging his so-far brutal 2017 season.

If you had to make a list of the Orioles’ biggest disappointments during their otherwise strong 25-16 start, Gausman would likely be at the top. Coming into the season, many expected him to take up the mantle as the Orioles’ ace in Chris Tillman’s early absence. When five BaltimoreBaseball.com staffers made their preseason predictions in April, four of us tabbed Gausman to have the most wins and best ERA on the club. (Dean Jones Jr. opted for Dylan Bundy, which so far has proved to be an inspired pick.)

There were plenty of reasons to expect a Gausman breakout in 2017. After all, he was the Orioles’ best starting pitcher down the stretch in 2016. Beginning in August, he was 7-4 with a 2.83 ERA, with nine quality starts in 12 outings. He struck out 75 batters in 76 1/3 innings and showed major improvement on his offspeed pitches.

But instead of busting out, Gausman has busted. He entered Saturday with an AL-worst 7.19 ERA and just two quality starts in nine games. His 1.86 WHIP was nearly 60 points worse than last year. His hits per nine innings rate has skyrocketed from 9.2 to 12.2 and walk rate from 2.4 to 4.6.

Gausman has particularly struggled with his slider. Not only has he had trouble commanding it — throwing 58 balls and 57 strikes with the pitch this year — but when he has gotten it in the zone, it’s been hit hard. Opponents entered the game batting .474 with a 1.184 OPS on Gausman’s slider. Without a useful offspeed weapon to complement his fastball, Gausman hasn’t been fooling many hitters this year.

And Gausman’s outing Saturday was, frankly, a mixed bag.

Let’s start with the bad news. Gausman was tagged for a season-worst 10 hits in his six innings of work, and Blue Jays hitters made solid contact off him all night. The damage might have been worse if not for some sparkling defensive work, including Manny Machado’s diving stop of a Russell Martin smash that started a double play in the fourth. Gausman allowed a baserunner in every inning, giving up eight singles in the first five frames and a homer and double in the sixth.

Now, for the positives. Despite the many men on base, Gausman gutted through six innings and held the Blue Jays to two runs, notching his third quality start of the year (and second against Toronto). When he got into jams, Gausman seemed to kick it into another gear. Three times — in the first, third and fifth — Gausman racked up an inning-ending strikeout to strand a runner at third, ratcheting up his fastball to the high 90s. Gausman also induced three double plays in the first four innings. He flashed good control, too, as he threw 71 of his 110 pitches for strikes.

“Obviously I gave up a lot of hits, but I always kind of base my outing on how hard the ball got hit off me, and I felt like they didn’t really hit the ball too hard, especially early in the game,” Gausman said. “My defense came up huge. I got some big double plays when I needed them, and I think the biggest thing was just being able to throw strikes consistently and kind of put the pressure on them.”

Gausman felt he was able to mix his pitches more effectively than usual.

“Fastball command [was the key], more than anything,” he said. “I had a real good feel for my split changeup, and threw some real good sliders, too. I was happy with that. When I can be able to have those three pitches, and then also be able to throw my curveball for strikes, that can be tough on hitters.”

Gausman didn’t garner a win for his efforts, as the Orioles bullpen let the lead slip away before the club rallied back to win. But his outing Saturday could be a jumping off point all the same.

“Yeah, definitely,” Gausman said. “Mechanically I feel great, and this is probably the best I’ve felt to start off a season, health-wise. So that’s good, but I’ve just got to be a little bit more consistent.”

The Orioles’ win Saturday vaulted them back in front of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. But if they hope to stay there, they’ll need Gausman to continue to work his way back to 2016 form.

Paul Folkemer

Paul Folkemer was born and raised in Baltimore and has been writing about the Orioles since high school, when he used to post O’s game recaps to online message boards before finishing his homework. Now a seasoned veteran of Orioles coverage, Paul served as the O’s beat reporter for four years for PressBox and PressBoxOnline.com before joining BaltimoreBaseball.com, and he previously wrote for Camden Chat and Orioles Hangout. He and his wife, Stacey, welcomed daughter Maggie in July 2017. They currently live in Columbia.

View Comments

  • OPACY is a very hitter friendly park, that said I wonder if Gausman is just trying too hard, at home at least, to be perfect or too fine in his pitch location to compensate then ends up making mistakes a little too often. ??? There are other bandboxes on the road too, maybe just a little mental aspect to it here?

    • I don't think the ballpark is the issue. OPACY isn't really a hitter-friendly park. In fact this year it's been the second-best PITCHER's park in the majors, believe it or not (granted, it's a small sample size).

      Besides, Gausman is a much, much better pitcher at home than he is on the road. Career 3.24 ERA at home and 5.16 on the road. Last year it was 2.67/ 4.32. If anything, pitching at OPACY has helped Gausman, not hurt him.

  • The strange saga of Kevbaldo Gausmanez continues. I think Osfan73 is onto something. Gausman has been trying to make the perfect pitch and missing. To his credit, a lot of his corner painting is oh-so-close, but the umps aren't giving him the black this year, so he attempts to correct and ends up tossing a meatball. I don't want to point at Castillo, especially since he recently transformed into Mickey Mantle, but you can't deny that the assassin on the mound from late last year disappeared the same time Weiters did.

    • It's possible the departure of Wieters could have some effect on Gausman, but I don't think it's a big factor. I don't think Castillo is the reason that Gausman's slider has been so poor this season.

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Paul Folkemer

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